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Les Filles du Roi
Growing the Colony While forts and farms were being built, they were mainly occupied by men. Former soldiers, adventurers, clergy (nuns and priests) and merchants tended to live in the area of New France. What types of problems might happen with only these types of people living in the new land? While the land was self-sufficient, there was a problem with growing the population. With men and no women, there were few new colonists born outside of those who became known as metis (First Nations mother and usually fur-trading father or coureur du bois). Les Filles Du Roi The King's Daughters (French: filles du roi; filles du roy) is a term used to refer to the approximately 800 (or 1000) young French women who immigrated to New France between 1663 and 1673 as part of a program sponsored by Louis XIV. The 'sponsorship' was actually a dowry 'which the king promised to men who would marry the women. With women came the prospect of French-born children and its style of colonization. While women and girls certainly emigrated to New France both before and after this time period, they were not considered to be ''filles du roi, as the term refers to women and girls who were actively recruited by the government and whose travel to the colony was paid for by the king.[1] They were also occasionally known as the '''King's Wards, where "wards" meant those under the guardianship of another. Colonial Marriage Quick marriages and families were encouraged. Almost all of the King's Daughters found husbands quickly. Further incentives to procreate were given in money grants to young married men and fathers of large families. Annual gratuities of up to 400 livres were rewarded to families of 12. Bachelors were penalized; hunting and fur- trading privileges were withheld to encourage them to settle down and start a family. Marriages between French and aboriginals were also encouraged. It was an active campaign supporting family values and it reaped the desired results. When the offspring of the "filles du roi" came of age 20 years later, the demographic situation of New France had indeed changed(6). In 1663 there had been one woman to every 6 men; now the sexes were roughly equal in number. By 1671, there had been 700 births. During the first decade of royal government, in fact, population climbed to over 9,000. From then on, immigration fell away, largely due to declining government aid as France became caught up in costly new wars in Europe. Nevertheless, the tradition of large French- Canadian families was now well established. The still-growing colony went on replacing over ninety percent of its people through natural birth, rather than immigration(7). Notable descendants *Saint André Bessette, descendant of fille du roi Anne Le Seigneur.[36] *Hillary Clinton, descendant of fille du roi Jeanne Ducorps dite Leduc.[37] *Angelina Jolie, descendant of fille du roi Denise Colin.[38] *Hall of Fame hockey player Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion was a direct descendant of Marie Priault, a King's daughter who married Pierre Joffrion, a farmer and former grenadier from the Carignan-Salières Regiment shortly after her arrival in 1669.[39] *One of the descendents of Catherine Guichelin became a founding father of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's capital. Louis Coutlée descended from one of Catherine's illegitimate children (Marie Vacher). He was the first sheriff of Ottawa (after serving in the lower Canadian Militia during the Anglo-American War of 1812 with his father.[40]) *Coutlee's son, Dominique-Amable Coutlee, served as a member of Parliament in Canada.[41][42]